Failure comes in many forms. Mistakes should be routine and used to build knowledge and context for your evolution. Protecting yourself from Epic Failure is too often the way people think of mistakes. In my experience, the failure to seize opportunities is the biggest tragedy. Design your start-up to have the agility, ears and the attitude to assess and seize opportunities.

You’ll look at your idea differently as you live it, you’ll add color. Chances are you’ll chop it up and reassemble it into a new shape and add real life texture. The value of an idea is only realized when it’s been applied, deconstructed and reconstructed in real life. Don’t hold onto the idea, it holds back your value creation.

Behind every success…I left MQ pre-IPO to do my own thing, leaving 2% unvested equity. 12 months later MQ exited to AOL for $900M, all vesting accelerated.I exchanged a 6-month old 2-person start-up for 4% of a $80M public company. I agreed to lock up my shares for 12 months: $6 > $24 > $2I let a company shift from a product business into a services-driven business: customer driven, easy revenueReduced exit value and narrowed choicesI bought into the strategy of growth via acquisitionIn most cases, this is an excuse for not fixing your current businessI didn’t force a shift from platform to application stack when a golden opportunity presented itself

12.
Failure and success are intertwined.Indecision and success are incongruent.

You have to fearlessly lead the team, you are afraid to show weakness to investors, where do you turn?Build your inner circle: Mentors, Advisors, Independent Board Members

21.
Your capital structure will determine the quality of your exit. The terms of EVERY round impact your choices on the next one.Take a moment of time to sanity test the relationship before you take money.Disconnect the capital from the person on the other side of the table. Don’t be embarrassed by what you don’t know. Don’t sign until you understand.Love your lawyer.Capital EquipmentEQUIP

22.
Your Value Navigation DashboardNAVIGATEA large share of start-up decisions are “off map”, unintentionallyDocument the assumptions you’ve made that drive your value creationBuild your value dashboard, record your proxiesWrite it on a piece of paper, and attach it to your monitorCircle the 2-3 things you (down deep) worry about the mostRuthlessly test and evaluate their achievementConnect it to your resource prioritiesConvert proxies to data

23.
NAVIGATEConsumers will check-in in great numbers when the right discount offers are available. Proxies

29.
ADAPTStubbornness and passion are not the same.Proving yourself right is the enemy of value creation.Center your team on agility.Ears are the most attractive start-up body part.

30.
Fast Failure & PivotingADAPTMake mistakes early, cheaplyListen very closelyAbsorb the inputGather as much data as you can for your value dashboard before you ask for moneyDon’t follow blindly, customer research is one verycritical signal, but not the only one.

31.
ADAPTPivotingA medicine for chest pain, sildenafil, was ineffective in treatment during the market trial, and exhibited certain side effects.

32.
the incredible [& annoying] rightness of venture capitalADAPTExtract yourself, think for your business.As annoying as it can be: listen, learn, adjustThey may not know your business, but you often ARE missing something. Usually it’s on a critical value driver

Homework?Audit yourself:Check your equipmentSketch out your value dashboardCheck how well your resources and priorities map to your value driversHow well are your equipped for the journeyHow well have you de-risked the deal for your investors?